Monday, December 6, 2010

Saint Nicholas Day

The Greek Saint Nicholas (Nikoloas of Myra) had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus. In Austria we don´t have Santa Claus, but today we are celebrating Saint Nicholas Day, an important day for children: Yesterday evening they prepared their boots and during the night Saint Nicholas filled them with gifts and sweets, and at the same time he checked up on the children if they were good, polite and helpful last year. If they were not, they will have a tree branch in their boots instead.